Remember the preflight safety instructions flight attendants rattle off every time you get on a plane? Who is supposed to get the oxygen mask first? Not the helpless child. You. Did you struggle with that idea the first time you heard it? Do you still struggle with it?
Nonprofit organizations, particularly social service ones, tend to spend all their resources on the clients, preserving none for the staff. But, like giving away the oxygen before you've secured it for yourself, it sounds compassionate, but is not a long-term solution.
Employee-Centered Management suggests practical initiatives that social service organizations can take to better care for their employees and create a work environment that encourages workers to buy in and grow personally and professionally. The result is a win-win: more innovative services and better ongoing care for your clients.
Designed for use as a discussion and training tool, this guide offers supervisors and managers a list of activities that will help organizations not only survive, but actually enjoy sustainable success.
Stop leaving your employees on the verge of burnout. Instead of automatically giving all available resources to the client, learn how to give the right resources to the right people in the right order.
About the Author: Larry Wenger, MSW, earned his degree in social work from the University of Kansas. Since graduating he has held various leadership positions in social services, including the director of program development for a New York-based organization where he helped establish programs for runaway and homeless youth in Guatemala and several major US cities. He also served as the associate executive director of a $50 million organization offering social services to four New Jersey counties.
His experiences in the nonprofit world led Wenger to start his own organization in 2005. Foundations for Community Programs, Inc., provides training for social service supervisors and managers. The workshops focus on Wenger's particular passion: helping agencies become places of growth and satisfaction for both employees and clients.
Wenger lives in Newtown, Pennsylvania, with his wife and daughter. He is also the proud father of two other children and grandfather of four.
